Stop device for conveyer systems



ocr. 20,1925'. 1.551.712

- O .FL B. PEEBLES ifi F. B. PEEBLES y SATOP DEVICE FOR CONVEYER SYSTBISFind AApril 19. 192s 'z shears-snee: a

' Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

FRANK B. PEEBLES, or sYRAcUsE, NEW YORK, AssIGNoR To THE LAMs'oNvcoiviPANY Pari-:wr OFFICE.

OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION F MASSACHUSETTS.

STOP DEVICE FOR CONVEYER SYSTEMS.

Application led April 19, 1923. Serial No. 633,133.

j T 0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK B. PEEBLES, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and Stateof Newv York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stop De-.

vices for Conveyer Systems, of which the following is a specific-ation.

This invention concerns conveyer systems of that type in which articlesupporting carriers move along elevated tracks or rails, and relatesmore particularly to means for preventing interference of carriersapproaching along converging tracks.

Conveyer systems of the type designated are commonly employed in packingestablishments, warehouses, docks and the like and often comprise whatmay conveniently be termed main tracks' with which branch or feedertracks converge at intervals. In some cases the main track is furnishedwith driving means, as for'example an endless chain, for propelling thecarriers along it, while the branch or feeder tracks may be of gravitytype, depending upon the inclina-l tion of their rails to cause thecarriers to move toward the main track.

In a system such as just suggested, great care must be exercised toprevent collision of carriers approaching the junction point along themain and branch tracks, respectively, as such collision not only tendsto block lthe system and damage the individual carriers with theirloads, but frequently causes the articles being transported to fall andinjure workmen passing beneath.

The principal object of the present invention is accordingly to providea stop device for use at the intersection of the tracks of such asystem, operative automatically to prevent interference of carriersapproaching the junction point. v In lthe accompanying drawlngs a pre-.'ferred yembodiment of the invention is illus- 4 trated and in suchdrawings Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of av conveyer system havingthe present inven-k a horizontal shaft 24. A stop element, here tionembodied therein; Y

50. shown in Fig. 1 llooking in the direction of the arrow A in saidligure; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the partsH Fig. 2 is an end elevation ofthe devices parallel therewith, a pair of supporting rails 6, 7 areprovided uponA which carriages 8 travel. chain 9 furnished at 4intervalswith projecting lugs 10 for engagement with article supporting carriersresting upon the main' track.A

These carriages support a driving` As rherein disclosed a pair ofsubstantial-v ly parallel endless chains 12, 13 are associated with thebranch track 2, such lchains being' trained over guiding sprockets 14,15 and being connected at intervals by bars 16. IIhese bars constitutedriving elements for moving carriers'such as 11a along the branch tracks2 until the carriers reach the inclined portions 3 of the latter,whereupon -they descend by gravity toward the main track.

'All of the above features are of known construction and form noessential part of the present invention.

At a point near the unction of the branch track with the main track, asupport 17 is provided which has 'bearings for a vertical shaft 18. Ab'ell crank lever comprising the arms 19, 2() is securedlto the lowerend of the shaft 18. Normally the shaft is held in shown as asubstantially flatv plate 25, is secured tothe shaft 24 and normallydepends across the inclined portion 3 of the branch track so as`,to liein fthe y path of carriers moving down theJ latter. A controlling arm 26is also secured to the shaft 24, and preferably lies substantiallyparallel to the stop element 25. The lower end of the controlling armprojects across the plane of movement of the arm of the bell cranklever.

The operation of the device is substantially as follows: If a carriersuch as 11 is allowed to descend the inclined trackB, and provided acarrier is not at the same time passing along the main track, thedescending carrier engages the stop element 25, and, as the latter isfree to swing, merely pushes; it out of the way and continues itsdescent, passing onto the main track, along which it may be propelled byone of the lugs 10 o-f the chain 9. If, however, at the instant acarrier starts to descend the incline 3, a carrier should be movingalong the main track, the engagement of the latter carrier with the arm19 will swing the bell crank lever until its arm 20 vcomes intoengagement with the controlling arm 26. VSo long as the carrier on themam track remains 1n engagement with the arm 19 the controlling arm andthe stop member are restrained fromV ference or collisio-n of carriersappro-aching the junction point of the two tracks is avoided, thusmaking vit unnecessary to keep a workman at the junction point to holdback the carriersI upon the branch track and prevent their collisionwith carriers on the main track.

lVhile certain forms of driving mechanism have herein been illustratedas desirable for moving the carriers along their tracks, it is clearthat the present'invention is not in any manner restricted to use withsuch devices, but is applicable in general to systems in whichconverging tracks are used.

I claim: j l j n 1. A conve-yer system comprising a pair of tracksconverging ,c to a junction point, a movable stop normally extendingacross one of said tracks' and normally movable freely from across thetrack by a carrier moving therealong, and an actuator, operable by acarrier approaching thejunction point along the other track, to preventmovement of the stop from normalV position.

2. `A eonveyer system comprising a pair of vtracks converging to ajunction point, a pivotally supported stop normally dependingV over oneof said tracks in the path of carriers moving along said track butnormally free to be moved out of the way by a passing carrier, and anactuator operable by a. carrier approaching the junction point along theother track to restrain the stop member against movement whereby toarrest a carrier moving along the first track.

3. A. conveyer system comprising a pair of converging to a junctionpoint, a freely turning shaft extending across and above one of saidtracks, a stop member secured to said shaft and normally depending intothe path of carriers moving along said track, an arm secured to thesha-ft, and an actuator movable by a` carrier approaching the junctionpoint along the other track and having' an element engageable with saidarm for restraining the latter and thereby the stop member, frommovement.

4l. A conveyer system comprising a main track and a. branch track'converging to a junction point, a` normally inoperative carrier stopassociated with the branch track, and an actuator associated with themain track and operable by a carrier passing along the latter to renderthe stop operative, said actuator comprising an arm normally extendingacross the path of carriers moving along the main track, and an arm forcontrolling the stop.

5. A co-nveyer system comprising a pair of tracks converging to` a,junction point, a freely swingin;` stop normally positioned across oneof said tracks, and a stop actuator associated with the othertrac-lgsaid actuator comprising a lever having one arm normallypositioned to be moved by a carrier passing therealong, and a second armconstituted and arranged to restrain, the stop from movement while acarrier engages' the ,first named arm of the lever. A 4

6. A conveyer system comprising a main track anda branch trackconverging tol a junction point, a freely turning, substantiallyhorizontal shaft extending across the branch track, a stop secured tothe shaft and depending in the 'path of carriers moving along thebranchtrack, a controlling arm secured to the shaft, a bell crank leverturning about a substantially vertical axis, one

arm of the lever normally extending across the main track in position tobe swung by carriers moving therealong, and a` spring retaining the bellcrank lever inA- normal position, the other arm of the lever beingconstructed and arranged to engage the" aforesaid co-ntrolling armwhereby to prevent movement of the'stop while a carrier is passing onthemaintrack.

Signed by me at Syracuse, Ygthis six-` A'pril, 1923.

teenth day of V Y FRANK B.

